Trucker Mouth
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Trucker Mouth

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"Live Review - Trucker Mouth - 8/7/09"

TruckerMouth - Johnny D's -Somerville, MA - August 7th, 2009

The "Thing" about Trucker Mouth, in this landmark local venue, on this night was that they may have been the most excited people in the room to be at Johnny D's. Hear me out...

I don't mean that the crowd wasn't into it, in fact quite the opposite, what I mean is that playing the legendary Johnny D's, for a group of (mostly) North Shore boys who've been possessed by southern rock demons, that unapologetically tore a hole in the Mason Dixon Line and deliver refined yet appropriately ear splitting music…Johnny D’s is a big deal. And let’s be honest, even in the presence of all of the incredible music that bleeds from every tiny vein of this community, not to mention the history of performers that have played on this stage, a recipe calling for a smattering of southern rock tossed with a healthy dose of Trucker Mouth’s original “New England Rub” massaged into some thick cut musical chops is less common around here then an out of the closet Yankees fan,

The band’s influences are unmistakable with clear homage to the Black Crowes, Drive-By-Truckers and others pervading the overall feel, but not so much as to define or pigeon hole them...just enough to take the good parts and run with it. And if you don’t like southern rock then you’re obviously lost anyway, so I’ll excuse you.

Here's the great part, they've been around as a band for only 2 years, have already released an excellent self titled album (not to mention cover art that will make you like them regardless of your musical preferences....thank you.), they've only toured around New England to date (so they're still our little secret for the moment) and they're heading back into the studio this fall to lay down a new arsenal of originals. What I'm trying to say is...catch them now, get to know them now, because I have little doubt that in no time, we'll be having the "dude, remember when we used to be able to see these guys at tiny local clubs..." conversation. And for their sake and as a reward for all the obvious hard work they put in, I can't wait for that to be a problem for all of us.

I spent some time with the boys after the show in what seemed like an IPA race, and in keeping it brief here's just a bit of what I gleaned...(translation= I took shitty notes because I was enjoying the conversation so much. Lesson learned.)

•Tim, Chad and Pat share the writing duties, with Pat providing a good portion of the lyrics, Tim contributing an unexpectedly soulful voice, and Chad throwing in the prerequisite long hair and beard that allows for superb visual accenting of his ludicrous assault of the frets.
•Chad, Tim and Pat went to the same High School together, with Chad and Pat playing together from early on, but they didn't partner up with Tim until years later...cheers to fate.
•Chad and Pat (continuing their bromance) went to Amherst, but only Pat actually went to Amherst. It seems that Pat needed some inspiration to get through the rigors of college life, and being that Chad had nothing to do but kick the living crap out of his guitar and perfect his beard, he signed up for the "tour." But really...what else should the story be for your charismatic lead guitarist be? Actual matriculation? Nah...
•Steve, who's a newer fixture to the band (after original bassist on the album, and Tim's Brother left a while back to attend to family obligations) played with ton's of intensity, but I didn't get much more detail as his older brother was in the following band and he rightfully shifted his attention in that direction.
•One of them drinks Heineken, which I do not respect at all. But that's the biggest transgression I can think of.
That’s that for now. I admit, I went a bit longer then usual because I like what I saw, and for that I’ll not apologize. If you like to rock out at all, buy the album, if you are a lover of live music, festivals, small dark loud rock clubs or any variation on the above, go see them, and when the second album drops at the end of this year do not be surprised if they take off.

- Review and Photos by Michael Spencer

Viscerreview Blog:
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- VisceReview, DeliMagazine


"Trucker Mouth Album Review"

“That's some Trucker Mouth, you got there, boy!” No, they ain't talking about my foul language, but about the new CD by Trucker Mouth that I've got crankin' in my sound system! When I opened the package containing this Boston-based, quartet's self-titled album, the first thing I noticed was their impressive cover art. I realize this has nothing to do with the music but I'm sure any red-blooded, American male will agree that more bands need to adopt Trucker Mouth's artistic direction.

The next thing that came to mind when I loaded this CD into my player was how much this band sounded like the Black Crowes. Tim Atkins' vocal track on “Nothing To Hide” along with guitar partner, Chad Raleigh, most certainly grabs the spirit of the Crowes' Robinson brothers and takes it to the next level. Straight ahead rockers like “Take Me Home”, “Jimmy Lee”, and “Degenerate Friend” showcases their own style of Boston-based, gritty, rock-n-roll. And for all those slide lovers out there, check out “Black Cat”, “Likeness”, and especially, “Love & a Shotgun.” On the latter, the presence of Duane Allman is highly felt, practically channeled from beyond.

A truly tasty track is “For The Take.” The combination between acoustic and electric guitars make this one of my favorite tunes on the disc. Not an easy choice with so many to chose from! Bass player, Joe Landry, really shines on the song “Sugar Brown” and drummer, Patrick Barrett, is solid throughout. This band is definitely on its way and this is a very strong debut and you can buy it from the band for $10. Free U.S. shipping included. From what I've heard, they are currently working on a new album. I have no doubt that Trucker Mouth is gonna put the petal to the metal and give us another winner!

Review by Keith Stefanec
- Pure Southern Rock


"Trucker Mouth Interview"

Trucker Mouth's front man Tim Atkins took a little break from the studio and was kind enough to answer few of our questions.

Can you tell us a little bit of background on Trucker Mouth?

We actually all grew up in the same small town though it wasn't until 2006 that the four of us came together as a band. We've played together in different combinations over the years prior to Trucker Mouth. Chad and Patrick had a couple projects together, Tim and Joe were in a band, Joe & Chad were in a band, so it was just a matter of time until the four of us got together. It would have been nice if we figured this out a long time ago though.

You seem to be greatly influenced by The Black Crowes, any other major influences I missed?

Tim’s always been a pretty heavy Crowes fan. There are plenty of others and probably too many to list. It's a pretty diverse and broad list between the four of us covering just about every style, but we all seem to love the great classic rock bands from the 60’s & 70’s (Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix), southern rock greats new & old (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Drive By Truckers, Allman Bros, we play a mean version of .38 Special’s “Hold on Loosely” which just never gets old) and some of the more recent Americana/Alt-country bands. We don’t try to sound like anything in particular, but our influences add up and all seem to make “guest appearances” in our songs.

Trucker Mouth released self-titled debut album last year, have you been pleased with the fan reaction and reviews for it?

The responses we’ve received have all been positive, but being without a label we haven’t done much to promote the album and get the word out. The last year has kept us pretty busy with shows and song writing so there hasn’t been too much extra time for promoting the band. We’d love to see more. It’s always great to read some real feedback. Recently Trucker Mouth has received some great press and growing album sales in Germany.

You guys are from Boston, which is a bit north from the Mason-Dixon Line. What kind of southern rock scene do you have there?

I got to tell you, it’s not a big one, if any in Boston. The funny thing about up here though is that the further North of Boston you go the stronger the Southern rock scene. The northern New England states offer plenty of country living & southern rock fans. Boston does however have a really good Americana/Roots Rock thing going on here, which we tend to gravitate towards.

Have you seen any growth of popularity with southern rock over the past couple of years?

Well, for the classic more traditional southern rock, not really....those that were born to be Skynyrd & ZZ Top fans, become Skynyrd and ZZ Top fans. Definitely with bands like The Black Crowes making a real resurgence with their last and recent album and the Drive By Truckers gaining popularity in places you wouldn’t expect, like the North East of the U.S.

There seems to be a fuzzier line with what is considered “Southern Rock” with some great bands, such as The Drive By Truckers, Widespread Panic, Gov’t Mule, My Morning Jacket, even Kings of Leon, and several others that bring southern influenced rock to the table. There definitely seems to be a growing popularity for this stuff. I guess it’s an evolving genre. Call it southern rock, call it rock, call it great!

Trucker Mouth just entered into the studio, when can we expect the new album?

We’re hoping to have it finished for the New Year, but we’re not setting a deadline for this one. We want to spend our time and not rush anything. There’s a lot we want to do with this album and the tracking is being done in a few different locations. We’re excited about the material we have for it and have a few more songs in the works that should make this album.

Besides the new album, any other future plans for Trucker Mouth?

We’ll keep writing songs and playing shows. We’ve always thrown around the idea of bringing in some full time keys.
- PureSouthernRock.com


"Album Review"

Trucker Mouth - CD Review
Written by Hank Hart
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Hey y’all this here Northeastern dude, “Joisey Guy”, to be more accurate, is pleased to join Southern Fried. The first review I’m having the pleasure of doing is the debut self titled CD by Trucker Mouth.

The band’s lineup is, Tim Atkins, guitar and vocals, Chad Raleigh, lead guitar, Patrick Barrett, drums and Steve Sofronas, bass. The group is not a “southern rock” band in the geographic sense; they are from the Boston area. I swear I heard a little of The Standells in the singing. For those not as old as dirt, meaning as old as me, The Standells had that huge hit in the sixties, “Dirty Water” which can be heard at Red Sox games.

If you are a fan of the Black Crowes you’ll love this CD. If you like the Allman Brothers, the guitar playing is reminiscent of some of Duane Allman’s slide guitar work on their early material such as “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More.”

I’m a drummer, and the test of a good song to me is how soon do my hands, fingers, feet start tapping out the beat to any song I like. Then my right hand goes reaching for the air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror which is my cymbal.

I didn’t do that on the opening track, “Black Cat.” However, I found myself banging away the rest of the CD, so I went back and had a listen again to “Black Cat.” I think what it was, more than anything, was the sound mix on the first track is a little buried, a little muddied. The entire CD obviously was not mixed in a state of the art multi million dollar studio. Despite that, the sound quality overall does not detract that much from the enjoyment of listening to the group.

When I heard the opening of the second track, “Nothing to Hide”, I was reaching for that extra pair of drum sticks I have on the side of my car door. Wow, the group sounds like they were shot out of a cannon on that song.

The third track, “Likeness” is vocals of the Black Crowes, but I swear the guitar, as I said above, is Duane Allman on slide guitar. If you close your eyes and imagine the ABB, it takes you back to those Idlewild South days.

That guitar sound continues on the next track, “Love & a Shotgun”, but the vocals sound a bit more like that of Marc Ford, ex-Black Crowes guitarist from some of Marc’s solo work.

Further down on the CD is a tune entitled, “Simple Things” which gave me the feel of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s tunes “Simple Man” and “Tuesday’s Gone.”

What to me detracts from the CD, and this is purely a personal taste, is I’d like to see more variation in the guitar sound. I’m a guy who likes to hear that melodic playing, (Dickey Betts’ sound for example) mixed in. If you love the slide sound and the fuzz tones, you’ll love this CD. Also, Tim does all the lead singing, and again, over the course of an entire CD, my personal taste is I prefer a little variation.

It may be a bit unfair of me to judge the band fully on a CD alone since I’ve never seen them play live. I called a good friend of mine, Matt, who lives in Stoughton, MA and asked if he was familiar with Trucker Mouth. He saw them at Johnny D’s in Sommervile, MA and said “they rocked the house!”

This is one of those CDs that will grow on you. It took me a little while to warm up to it, but I find it on regular rotation in my car CD player. For me, who primarily listens to music while on the road, that is huge. Once I get hooked, a certain CD stays readily available in my car for weeks on end, and that is where Trucker Mouth has been over these last few weeks.

My gut says their next effort will be even more impressive, why not be one of those that will say, “I bought Trucker Mouth’s first CD way back before they became famous.”
- Southern Fried Magazine


Discography

Trucker Mouth, 2008
self-titled 12-song full length album

Photos

Bio

In 2006, front man Tim Atkins and lead guitar player Chad Raleigh, established the sound that would become one of today's most promising rock bands to emerge from the Boston music scene, TRUCKER MOUTH. This soulful, southern and classic rock influenced group has been channeling their tone packed sound at clubs all over New England with Patrick Barrett delivering high energy percussion, ear defying guitar solos by lead guitarist Chad Raleigh, strong heartfelt vocals, emotional slide guitar, and melodic guitar work from Tim Atkins, and driving bass lines from Joe Landry, that create a blend of rock that is as familiar as it is their own. Trucker Mouth’s live performances are only rivaled by their relentless studio work as they are constantly refining their sound. A recently released self titled album is available and has been well received by fans and press alike.

This is a band you must see live if you have not yet.

Trucker Mouth's debut album was recorded at Chillhouse Studios with Sound Engineer & Producer Eric Welsh whose credits include The Pixies, Soulive, and Billy Idol. Trucker Mouth’s full length album was released in July 2008 and is available through their website, at any live show, and through most of the major digital distribution services such as iTunes.

Official Trucker Mouth Website:
www.trucker-mouth.com

Trucker Mouth on Myspace:
www.myspace.com/truckermouth

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/truckermouth

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TruckerMouth

Videos: http://www.trucker-mouth.com/videos.asp